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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546040">Blood, Bonds, and Beskar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklilcorner/pseuds/twilightarc-gm'>twilightarc-gm (darklilcorner)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Blood, Bonds, and Beskar [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action &amp; Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Character, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Legends Canon has been sampled for appealing bits and Mara Jade, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, References to Star Wars Legends, Romantic Friendship, Slow Build, Slow Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:52:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,488</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546040</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklilcorner/pseuds/twilightarc-gm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke Skywalker, hero of the Rebel Alliance and popular commander of the New Republic, has assigned himself a new diplomatic mission— the reclamation of Mandalore. </p><p>Luke drags his Jedi apprentice Mara Jade long for the mission that will see them grow close to the silver-armored Mandalorian known only as “Mando” and his force sensitive child. </p><p>A closeness born of battles, spilled blood, and a common enemy.</p><p>[You do not need to have read any Legends Content to enjoy Mara Jade]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin/Mara Jade, Din Djarin/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Blood, Bonds, and Beskar [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2263208</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Onboard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>References:<br/>2011 Star Wars Trilogy Episodes 4-6<br/>The Mandalorian s1e1-s2e8 34:46 ["Are you a Jedi"]<br/>Thrawn Trilogy; "Heir to the Empire", "Dark Force Rising", "The Last Command" [redacted last chapter]</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Glossary:<br/><i>ad</i> - "son/daughter"<br/><i>beskar</i> -  "Mandalorian steel that is highly resistant to energy weapons"</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke crushed the last of the black trooper droids as a test of strength, just to see how the thing was expected hold up under normal circumstances against opponents who didn’t have lightsabers. He was surprised to find the thing exceedingly sturdy and very heavy, but in the end still not enough against the Force.</p><p>The droid dropped to the ground in a crash in the now silent hallway. Heavy fumes clouded up to his shoulders with a stringent smell that might have given him a headache if he were less of a Jedi.</p><p>Though if he were less Force-sensitive would he have been here? The desperate plea through the Force that had pulled him from the depth of a sleep cycle and across a whole sector to an otherwise unremarkable location had been formidable, but not enough to wake even Mara who was strong in the Force in her own right. Would Leia have felt it?</p><p>The doors ahead of him opened with a hiss so he sidelined his musings to finally put faces to the people he could sense. All had blasters pointed at him except for an obvious Imperial officer in surrender.</p><p>He lost his breath. More so than the bewilderment of three Mandalorians and two other women with looks that could kill, there in the arms of the closest Mandalorian outfitted in shining silver armor, was a very small version of his late master. <em>Yoda…</em> Luke had to blink to shake himself out of a sudden burst of memories from Dagobah.</p><p>It was the man ahold of the tiny being that spoke first, “Are you a Jedi?”</p><p>Luke suppressed a smile, “I am, for what it’s worth.” He clipped his lightsaber back to his belt, even though there were several blasters still pointed at him. None of the people before him read as hostile, just confused. “It seems I got here just in time.  Those droids looked like they were about to cause a lot of trouble.”</p><p>The man in silver armor scoffed, “We would have been dead.”</p><p>With dramatic timing, a warning alarm went off from the helm consoles, which had one of the blue armored Mandalorians dive for the readout. “Incoming drop from hyperspace, large load-out.” And as she said it, a battle cruiser in Republic colors appeared in the ship’s viewport dead ahead. “Republic battle cruiser, weapons are powering up!” She hit buttons in the console, “Kryze, the code cylinder for the defense system is locked out.”</p><p>The other blue-armored Mandalorian, Kryze he guessed, confronted Luke with her blaster to his face. “They’re with you? Call them off.”</p><p>Luke wasn’t worried but the sense of urgency from the group was contagious. “Alright, alright, let me talk to them.” And as if he knew he was needed, Artoo wheeled in behind Luke with a disgruntled string of beeps about having to navigate around debris. “Artoo, patch my code in through the comm array so they know who’s hailing them.” He moved gingerly between the blasters aimed at him, hands up, to the consoles marked for communications. As the pinging alarms increased with detected threat level, the panic rose behind him along with a few multilingual curses. Luke tried to offer a smile to the nice lady who abused the defense controls next to him, but she only gave him an onyx-eyed glare for his effort. He punched in the frequency range and began the call. “Republic Cruiser Halcyon, this is Commander Luke Skywalker. Situation is under control here.”</p><p>“<em>Dank farrik</em>.” The woman holding the officer down exclaimed. It was said with the same awe he had become used to in the past few years and it was telling that he couldn’t even come to the Outer Rim without being recognized.</p><p>“The Luke Skywalker who took out the Death Star? Who killed the Emperor?” Kryze lowered her weapon as she seemed to process her own questions. “What’s a kriffing hero of the Republic doing <em>here?”</em></p><p>He bottled up a laugh that wanted to escape, “Well I’m on <em>vacation</em>… supposedly.”</p><p>“Commander Skywalker we read your signal. Are you in need of assistance?” The captain of the Halcyon’s nonplussed voice fed through the bridge speakers.</p><p>Luke gave a pointed look at the group whose escapades he had interrupted. The sense of confusion had returned twofold but at least all the blasters had lowered. “It’s fine for now, Captain M’kirq. Remain on standby while I wrap things up.”</p><p>“Acknowledged.” And the comm disconnected.</p><p>“Weapons are powering down.” His fellow helmsperson confirmed. She was a sharp beauty with warm brown skin and braided black hair, but everything intense about her softened in a moment with relief. “No other threats detected.”</p><p>Luke turned to the group and leaned back against the edge of the console as he aimed for casually interested and nonthreatening. In truth, he was extremely interested, but at least he didn’t have a reason to be a threat. Anyone who was an enemy of Imperials was probably an ally. “So from what I can tell, you invaded an imperial cruiser, killed all its personnel, subdued its commanding officer, then got cornered by the—“ at this he waved a hand back at the hallway across from him where some of the droids could be seen on the floor “—new trooper droids the Empire seems to have come up with.” He decided to keep his focus on Kryze since she seemed to be the one in charge. “Fill me in on the rest?”</p><p>“How about you answer why you’re here first?” She countered.</p><p>Well, he had confirmed for them that he was a Jedi. Usually that was enough of an answer for people who had ever heard any stories about Jedi before. He shrugged, “I picked up a disturbance in the Force and it led me here.” His focus shifted to the little green munchkin that squirmed with pips and squeals in the silver Mandalorian’s arms. “Everything seems to be fine on that front now.”</p><p>Kryze fully holstered her blaster with a very put-upon sigh. “Nothing is ever as easy as I’d like it to be. Look Jedi, I know your kind, I get your reasons for meddling, but I don’t have time for them now. I am claiming this ship as a part of the Outer Rim charter with the Alliance and I don’t need to be blown up before I get it back to scrub.”</p><p>Pirates then? An imperial cruiser seemed to be too big of a target for such a small team, even if more than half were Mandalorian.</p><p>She continued, “If you got business with the foundling and his caregiver make it quick. Mando, you got this? You wanted to return the little one to the Jedi, right?”</p><p>Much to Luke’s amusement, everyone’s focus went to the silver Mandalorian, who responded by tucking the child into the crook of his shoulder protectively. Every one of the women smirked or smiled in response.</p><p>The man was the only one still wearing his helmet, but it didn’t manage to disguise the turmoil that radiated off him. “That was the task.” He managed.</p><p>A bit more casual with her watch over the Moff—according to the rank on his uniform and the cape—the brawny woman made a gesture between Mando and Luke with a cheeky grin that sported a Rebel starbird tear, “He loves that kid. Good luck trying to take him, <em>Commander</em>.”</p><p>Luke straightened with both hands back up in a mock of surrender. “I’m not here to take anyone’s kid.” But now he had a whole other set of questions, “Let’s go back to filling me in on why you’ve seized a lone imperial cruiser in the middle of nowhere. With a Republic Marshal no less.” He finished with an eye on the badge at the woman’s hip.</p><p>She palmed the badge and held it up for him to see her name engraved on it. “Carasynthia Dune, at your service, <em>sir</em>. Short of it is that the kid was taken by this guy,” She kicked the Moff, who grunted in response, “For experiments unknown. Mando there mounted this rescue mission for him. The agreement was that the Mandalorian’s get the ship, I get the Moff, and our sharpshooter over there pays off some honor debt for Mando’s merc friend.” The woman in black and red gave an eye roll at Dune’s last mention.</p><p>Mando nodded with every sentence.</p><p>“And this ship is going… where?” A largely intact Imperial light cruiser was an amazing find, but also dangerous in the wrong hands. Luke could dredge up detailed memories given a moment to think, but he was pretty sure that Leia had mentioned the warrior and war-obsessed culture of the Mandalorians before. He had only ever known of one and that had been the hunter that had mercilessly turned his friend Han in for a syndicate bounty. It seemed imperative that he find out if the ship was going to be used to hurt anyone.</p><p>Kryze stiffened, but answered anyway, “We’re going to take back Mandalore.” She said it with a brevity that belied the molten anger Luke could feel from her.</p><p>“Empire?”</p><p>Kryze huffed an affirmative.</p><p>He would have to speak to Leia and get her political point of view on it, but at least he was fairly sure Mandalore wasn’t in the New Republic’s boundaries. More details were needed, but they all seemed to be in a hurry. “Well how about a deal? Let Captain M’kirq take the Moff, what’s left of the trooper droids, and give Marshal Dune a ride to her jurisdiction. In return, I can have this ship cleared for travel through New Republic sectors.”</p><p>“You’re just going to make a call and suddenly we get to take a short cut through core space?”</p><p>“Well, no. You just need me and my apprentice on board.” The plan started to form in his mind, half frazzled and definitely not Senate-approved. “If there’s Empire anywhere in this galaxy, it’s sort of my duty to investigate it. Might as well consolidate trips.”</p><p>The immediate tension was palpable. All the Mandalorians shared <em>looks</em>. Dune a little dumbstruck. The only one of them that didn’t show an opinion in her face or stance was the honor-bound sharpshooter.</p><p>Kryze finally acquiesced, “Make the arrangements, hero.” She turned to leave. “Koska, you’re with me.” At which Kryze’s second followed her leader out of the bridge and out of sight.</p><p>“Can you make sure I get the reward for turning this trash in?” Dune wanted to know.</p><p>It amused Luke, but it didn’t surprise him. Alderaan memorial tattoo or not, the woman certainly had the cavalier attitude of someone adjusted to life in the Outer Rim. “I’ll see what I can do.” Luke switched on the comms again to get started.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Din was at a loss of what to do so he took a seat at one of the consoles and tuned out of whatever the Jedi and Cara were talking about with captain of the Republic ship. He vaguely registered there was a fourth voice aggressively asking questions that the Jedi didn’t really answer, but otherwise Din took a moment to breathe.</p><p>Grogu had finally calmed down enough and had taken to patting at the jaw edge of Din’s helmet. He hadn’t even realized he’d slouched so much that the kid could reach. “Not right now, <em>ad</em>.”</p><p>Even as he said it, Din was surprised that he did. Grogu was his son, a part of his clan, and yet his quest could end right here. There was an extremely powerful Jedi who could take out a platoon of Dark troopers where he had struggled with just the one. This Jedi that had killed the Emperor? Hero of the New Republic? Din guessed he remembered some of the flimsy posters with a degraded image of some heroic profile that might have looked like the young man that had just rescued them.</p><p>He had been tasked with returning Grogu to his people, to those enemy sorcerers who had—two for two—been more helpful than not. He could bring it up, and maybe this Jedi would take Grogu on as another apprentice.</p><p>And that would be that.</p><p>“Bah!” Grogu interrupted. The kid seemed to have caught the edge of Din’s mood because instead of insisting more about the helmet, he snuggled into Din’s arm where he’d been holding the kid in his lap. He raised his free hand to pat at the kid’s wrinkled little head. He didn’t know what else to do.</p><p>There was a trill of beeps next to him that brought him straight out his malaise and into high alert. It was the astromech droid that had followed the Jedi and it had rolled right up to them. Din didn’t know how but its single red ‘eye’ and domed head still managed to convey a direct interest in Grogu who had sat back up at the droid’s approach. It beeped more.</p><p>Din growled.</p><p>The droid let out a series of guttural Binary that was definitely an attempt to scold. Din would have reached for his blaster right then but Grogu burbled happily at the droid and reached for it.</p><p>It rocked side to side on two of its legs. Some sort of simulation of excitement in return.</p><p>Since the droid was with the Jedi, it probably wasn’t bad, but Din kept ahold of Grogu regardless. The droid and Grogu talked back and forth in their nonsense ways until the Jedi showed up.</p><p>The man was very casually in Din’s space, close enough to where the edge of the dramatic, overlarge black cloak the Jedi wore brushed up against Din’s thigh. “I feel like we need to talk about your child there. Walk with me to the hangar?”</p><p>He got up quicker than necessary and it put him face to face with the Jedi. It was the kind of face that smiled a lot for looking so serene right then. He was only five centimeters shorter than Din, so it made it easy to note that the Jedi held a tan well and had blue eyes that even the helmet’s visor picked up on.</p><p>The Jedi gave a small expression that lifted one eyebrow and quirked a small smile from his lips before he started walking past Din and out to the hallway.</p><p>It was a quiet procession even if Grogu kept a running burble of commentary the entire way to the hangar. The Jedi, for his part, seemed to take special note of stormtroopers where they had fallen. Dune just concentrated on navigating with the less than helpful Gideon who had returned to consciousness.</p><p>When they arrived at the hangar, the Lambda shuttle they had road in on was gone. Din couldn’t remember when Fennec had left the bridge, but her absence explained the shuttle’s disappearance.</p><p>“What happened here? It was blocked when I arrived.”</p><p>“Looks like Fennec took our shuttle. She’s not exactly on the Republic’s good side.” Din answered. The debt Boba Fett had placed in her care was fulfilled anyway. No use in her sticking around any longer than needed. He stepped up shoulder to shoulder with the Jedi to survey the rest of the damage. If this was going to be their ride to Mandalore, it was worth a note on how much needed to be repaired. There were at least six TIE-fighters unmanned and standing by which would be useful to Kryze. With the Lambda gone, it was easy enough to tell that the damage to the hangar was superficial. “Dune, did we check for any more threats onboard?” He couldn’t remember the readouts from before the Dark troopers made it back inside.</p><p>“Apparently the Halcyon has been keeping busy picking up escape pods.” The Jedi answered instead. “Lots of work ahead for the Captain. I’m going to owe him a bottle of something rare and expensive. He was looking forward to relaxing.”</p><p>“On vacation?” Din remembered the jest from earlier. “You expected to stay out of trouble this far from the core worlds?”</p><p>“My friends like to tell me that I can find trouble anywhere, so I guess it doesn’t matter where I go.” He turned to Din, “Tell me about your…foundling?”</p><p>“My son.” Din corrected. It felt right to say it.</p><p>“Your son. I admit I have many questions. I have only met one other of his species before. Where did you even find him? What’s his name?”</p><p>The answers had the weight of a long story he didn’t even know how to begin to tell. Din stared out into the starry space beyond the hangar energy shield that protected them from the vacuum. “His name is Grogu.” That was the middle of the story, wasn’t it? The beginning, “I took a bounty to bring him back to some Imperial holdouts in Nevarro. I found him with some mercs on Arvala-Seven.”</p><p>“But you didn’t take him back to the Imperials.” The Jedi guessed.</p><p>Pain. “I did.” He had really tried to convince himself to leave the child at the time. Even thinking about how he tried to talk himself out of going back was embarrassing. Grogu was just a child. As soon as he learned that, he should have never thought of taking him to the client. “But I went back for him.” And it had caused his covert their sanctuary and several lives of his tribe. Din restlessly held Grogu who once again sensed his anxiety and tried to assure Din with gentle coos and pats at his chest armor.</p><p>“And somewhere along the way you found out he could use the Force, so you sought out the Jedi? They’ve been dead for almost three decades now.”</p><p>It was an odd thing to say. A Jedi was on Corvus. A Jedi stood next to him right now. “I didn’t even know Jedi existed before I had Grogu, but you’re not that hard to find once you start looking. Apparently, you just show up.”</p><p>The Jedi laughed.</p><p>Din didn’t have a clue how to react. This hero of the Republic, one-man army, who had so far remained serene and nearly stoic was laughing. He didn’t think Jedi capable of it.</p><p>“Oh, that’s good. Mara is going to appreciate that.” Just as he said it, two Marketta-class shuttles came into view of the hangar, one coming into land and the other ducking down to the secondary hangar at the bottom of the cruiser. “Speaking of…”</p><p>The shuttle landed smoothly, retracting its wings to fit into the narrow launch tube. The landing ramp was already opening before the vessel had completely settled. It revealed a woman in a tight-fitting, dark grey jumpsuit and flame-red hair bundled into a clean braid. She was carrying two duffel bags and a number of very visible weapons. She walked down the ramp much like Fennec did; with a lot of grace and almost completely silent.</p><p>She did not stop until she was toe to toe with the Jedi. “Skywalker, I swear you make me regret agreeing to learn anything from you.”</p><p>Without looking away, he introduced her, “Mando. Dune. This is Mara Jade, my apprentice.”</p><p>“When you said we were going to a secluded moon to train, you failed to mention that you would just hare off after the first <em>feeling</em> you got from the Force.”</p><p>“Mara, also meet Grogu, he’s sensitive to the Force. He’s the one that called out.” Skywalker tilted his head at Grogu in Din’s arms. The child had turned into a shy thing, refusing to make eye contact with the new person.</p><p>Noticing Grogu, the Jedi’s apprentice tried to calm down, which did help the situation. Apt at reading emotions, Grogu perked up with a questioning coo. Jade stepped back and away to give them more space. “Now what are we doing?” She asked, resigned.</p><p>“We are going to Mandalore.” It was said with the same sort of carefree connotations as if Mandalore was some paradise and not a cursed planet under the remnants of Imperial control. “Marshal Dune, if you’d like, this shuttle is for you to take your prisoner to the Halcyon.”</p><p>Cara had perched herself on some cargo boxes. Gideon was sullen, as any prisoner would be, but his silence after so much grand standing before was uncanny. Din could see the Moff was focused hard on Skywalker.</p><p>The shock trooper turned marshal, for her part, didn’t seem inclined to take the shuttle. She only began to say anything when Din turned to look at her fully. “You gonna be okay if I leave you and the kid here? War’s a nasty business. It’s not like bounty hunting.” She would know.</p><p>It made his throat dry to think of it. To be fair, he hadn’t agreed to help with taking back Mandalore. He just said he would reconsider. “We’ll be fine. Thank you for your help.” It didn’t feel like enough to say, but anything else felt too showy.</p><p>After a pause to consider, Cara dismounted from her position and pushed the Moff towards the shuttle. She stopped to grab Din’s forearm he had reached toward her. The embrace of arms was simple, assuring. “I’ll see yah around, Mando.”</p><p>“You will.”</p><p>Gideon was fast for a defeated man. Unbound as he was, he reached for the blaster at Cara’s thigh holster and his hand was almost there before any of them reacted.</p><p>Except that his hand stopped, eerily in midmotion. The air had become heavy. “You don’t want to do that.” The Jedi said.</p><p>Panic, unquestionably, had welled up into the Moff’s dark eyes. “You can’t control me. I’m not so feeble-minded.” Cara had already moved away and stuck her heavy blaster into Gideon’s back, but his hand didn’t move, nor did the rest of him.</p><p>Skywalker shook his head. “Nothing so sinister, I assure you.” And with what looked like a flicker of the Jedi’s eyes, Gideon was released from the heavy air and was able to move again.</p><p>Which Cara made sure was directly toward the shuttle ramp. “I gotta take care of this, Mando. Bye, Kid.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder as a goodbye in lieu of empty hands to wave with. With the ramp closed behind them, Din could admit a little that he wished he was going with her.</p><p>Grogu waved sullenly the entire time until the shuttle departed after.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Vision</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An uncertain future for Din and Grogu. A complicated present for Luke and Mara.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A team from the Halcyon along with the redirected cruiser droids had made quick work of the Dark and stormtrooper remains. It was a different experience to stick around and clean up the aftermath, but Din didn’t think he could manage the same level of sympathy Skywalker showed for the fallen. </span>
  
</p>
<p><span>The Jedi</span><span>, more stoic than before, </span><span>removed every stormtrooper helmet. It revealed that the Empire was </span><span>just</span><span> taking anyone these days that met their still human-only standard. Men, women, old, barely old enough and every kind in</span> <span>between.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>The apprentice seemed to fair better at the human wreckage. Jade would take the helmet from Skywalker and push him on to the next body so that the maintenance droids could clean up. Din hadn’t meant to follow them the entire time, but it seemed important somehow, and he still wasn’t sure what should happen next. Jade would periodically look back at them and communicate somehow with her pale eyes to ‘just bear with it’. So, he did, while the kid dozed away in his arms.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Reeves that found them in one of the main corridors that lead back up to the bridge. “There you are, Mando. Kryze wants a word.</span>
  <span> She’s in the conference room up ahead.” She thumbed at the way behind her. “Dark troopers are offloaded, and the Halcyon is about to pull away so we’re going to make our first jump.” She addressed the Jedi. “Pick a room for your stay. Trip is going to take a few days.” Ever the efficient second, she was already gone without waiting for anyone’s confirmation.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew what was coming. The Darksaber. The war. Would he join or not? He didn’t have an answer ready. He hadn’t thought he’d get this far. “Uh…” The kid’s tiny whistle of a snore prompted him to reconsider taking him into what was likely going to be a heated conversation. “Could you…” He tried to mimic giving the kid to the Jedi in askance.</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>Skywalker </span><span>snapped out of whatever </span><span>melancholy</span><span> he had fallen into</span><span>. “Oh</span><span>!</span> <span>S</span><span>ure</span><span>.” He was exceedingly gentle taking the kid, which</span><span> either helped or hindered Din’s racing heart at the Jedi’s closeness</span><span>. </span><span>He didn’t know what to do about that either except be thankful for his helmet</span><span>. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be back as</span>
  <span> soon as I can.” Din couldn’t help but</span>
  <span> tuck his son’s hand in over his tiny chest where he laid cradled in Skywalker’s arms. </span>
  <span>He </span>
  <span>huffed and turned away before he could change his mind about leaving the kid in someone else’s care.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze </span>
  <span>stood at the front of the first conference room he found where the doors opened. </span>
  <span>The room was as minimal as it could be, with nothing but a </span>
  <span>rectangular grey meeting table and five unpadded chairs, also grey. </span>
  <span>There was a readout with a </span>
  <span>planetary</span>
  <span> chart and </span>
  <span>three locations pinned in red </span>
  <span>that Kryze considered</span>
  <span> without even turning back to </span>
  <span>look at Din when the doors closed behind him.</span>
  <span> “</span>
  <span>Have you ever been to Mandalore?” She asked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was there </span>
  <span>for a year.”</span>
  <span> It had been a barren place even then. Only the domed cities had been habitable</span>
  <span>.</span>
  
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Before, you said it was cursed. Was that your opinion, or were you just repeating what you were told</span>
  <span> by the Children of the Watch?”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>Din sighed.</span><span> “Does it matter? That planet has been</span><span> stripped of everything it can offer. </span><span>Its</span> <em><span>beskar</span></em> <span>is scattered throughout the galaxy</span><span> as ship debris and </span><span>hoarded in vaults.</span><span>”</span></p>
<p><span>“We’ll get it back.</span> <span>We’ll get all of it back.</span><span>” Finally, Kryze turned to him.</span><span> “</span><span>But first we need to come together to </span><span>work for it.</span><span>”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re stronger together?” Din supplied. She had said it before—and it was true—but when Kryze used the phrase, it sounded like propaganda. “Weren’t there several civil wars that ignored that mantra?” He had dozed off during most history lessons, to be clocked through his helmet by whoever was teaching that day. Back then, he had been more interested in shooting blasters and sparring with the other foundlings.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze </span>
  <span>tsked. “Wars always happen for </span>
  <span>reasons less to do with principles and more to do with agendas. The agenda here is that </span>
  <span>the Imperials tried to end us</span>
  <span>. D</span>
  <span>estroy</span>
  <span> us. Now</span>
  <span>,</span>
  <span> it’s time for</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> revenge.” </span>
  <span>The last word was said so softly, </span>
  <span>Din’s helmet had to amplify it </span>
  <span>for him </span>
  <span>to hear. “</span>
  <span>Taking back Mandalore is a statement</span>
  <span>. That we survived</span>
  <span> and on that ‘cursed’ planet we will again thrive.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We take our revenge just by surviving, Kryze.” It didn’t matter how ridiculed the label of ‘Mandalorian’ became, or if it faded altogether from the collective memory of the galaxy. They would survive regardless. “The Creed allows us to thrive.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>At that she laughed</span>
  <span>. The</span>
  <span> heavy, false kind. “</span>
  <span>You call scattered tribes and broken clans</span>
  <span> thriving? Small groups hunted for their armor, </span>
  <span>fighting until they fall and harvested like bugs with shiny shells?</span>
  <span> We rescued you</span>
  <span> from that, and you still believe that’s a way to live?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was such a common occurrence since he first left the covert to work that he hadn’t really thought of it in years. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Both the hunter and the prey.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She continued. “</span>
  <span>Regardless, I still need your help. I believe we need Mandalore</span>
  <span>, and I’m not the only one that thinks that way. </span>
  <span>Right now, our people come to me because I once ruled</span>
  <span> them, and they will fight </span>
  <span>to reclaim what’s ours, and for the glory of it. In the end, however…” At this her </span>
  <span>attention dropped to the Darksaber Din had tied to his belt. </span>
  <span>“The only thing that will keep us unified enough to recover is a </span>
  <span>recognizable symbol of our strength.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Does the ‘story’ </span>
  <span>Gideon mentioned </span>
  <span>really matter that much? I didn’t even know </span>
  <span>what the Darksaber was, so what guarantee do you have that it will sway anyone</span>
  <span>?</span>
  <span>” </span>
  <span>It was literally the strangest thing he had heard</span>
  <span>. </span>
  <span>Mandalorians were nomadic and tribal by nature of the Creed. </span>
  <span>How was one laser sword supposed to </span>
  <span>override that?</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“The ‘story’ is the power of it. </span><span>It shows the strength of the person who wields it</span><span> and the Darksaber</span> <span>is unique</span><span>ly</span><span> identifiable. I need you to restart the story, so when I take it from you</span><span> by trial—” Kryze had stepped close</span><span>, “</span><span>—It will be all anyone will talk about for years.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>She couldn’t see it, but he rolled his eyes. “You could take it now and make your own story.</span>
  <span> I have other priorities.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now she smiled. It showed the lines of age </span>
  <span>around her eyes. “I thought your quest was over?”</span>
  <span> She leaned</span>
  <span> against the table</span>
  <span> with her</span>
  <span> arms crossed. “</span>
  <span>The Jedi can take the foundling and you’ll be bound to nothing.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The kid is part of my clan.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her answer surprised him, “Good.</span>
  <span> Then you should realize that a bounty hunter’s life is no place for a </span>
  <span>foundling. They need stability</span>
  <span>.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He floundered again. He had expressed the same sentiment several times before.</span>
  <span> “The… covert would </span>
  <span>help raise him.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The covert that moves when the </span>
  <span>they become the hunted</span>
  <span>?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pile of </span>
  <span>abandoned and </span>
  <span>lost </span>
  <span>helmets flashed in his mind.</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“T</span><span>he New Republic Jedi </span><span>so deep in routing imperial remnants </span><span>and galactic politics</span><span> he’s </span><span>thrown himself in to our fight</span><span>?</span><span>”</span> <span>Kryze continued</span><span>. She looked at the door of the conference room as if she could see Skywalker through it </span><span>to wherever he was on the ship. “</span><span>If the child is yours, then he’s yours, Mando. You have to take care of him</span><span>. So where and how will you do that?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t know.</span>
  <span> “I have to… think about it.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lightly grasped his arm. “You have five days. Until then, keep the </span>
  <span>Darksaber</span>
  <span> safe and hidden. We’ll have the rest of my group boarding in six hours and I don’t want this story starting without you committed to it.” She squeezed, “And hide the Jedi. Not everyone is as accepting of their kind as I am.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p><hr/>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think they eat those on Tattooine, don’t they?” Mara gently flicked at tip of Grogu’s large green ear that stuck out over Luke’s arm. The child was still sleeping and didn’t show any signs of waking even when they weren’t being quiet.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>He looks nothing like a </span>
  <span>Kowakian monkey-lizard and I am offended on his behalf.” Luke </span>
  <span>opened another officer’s room</span>
  <span> to inspect.</span>
  <span> It was immaculate as all the others they had checked, but this one had a </span>
  <span>viewport and some personal effects. </span>
  <span>Chief among them was something like an altar with a</span>
  <span>n ornate weapon</span>
  <span>’</span>
  <span>s stand </span>
  <span>for a single short weapon.</span>
  <span> “Whose room is this supposed to be, Artoo?” He could already guess. The </span>
  <span>Force gave him the impression of darker intent.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Artoo</span>
  <span> blurted a string of Binary that </span>
  <span>equated to a disgruntled, ‘I don’t know’ and plugged</span>
  <span> into the readout next to the door. The screen popped up with the Moff’s name.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gideon</span>
  <span>. Well</span>
  <span>,</span>
  <span> our host may want to take this room</span>
  <span>. Can you see from here if something else with a viewport is available?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Artoo confirmed </span>
  <span>and the readout started to go through data at unreadable speeds.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For a Jedi, you’re pretty spoiled</span>
  <span>,</span>
  <span> Skywalker.” Mara </span>
  <span>had gone further into the room, inspected it, and left nothing out of place.</span>
  <span> “What happened to the </span>
  <span>man that could sleep on the forest floor?”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“</span><span>You could see the stars from the forest floor, </span><em><span>Jade</span></em><span>.”</span> <span>He had spent too much time growing up</span><span>,</span><span> and during the height of the Rebellion</span><span>,</span><span> living underground in bunkers</span><span>.</span><span> “Besides, what’s the har</span><span>m?</span><span> We’ll be he</span><span>re for a few days.</span><span> Probably longer.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“You really want us to fight some Imperial holdouts </span>
  <span>without any back up</span>
  <span>?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Mandalorians are a legendary warrior culture, aren’t they? If anything, we’re the back up.” Artoo beeped for attention and wheeled away back out and down the corridor for them to follow. “This is a diplomatic opportunity to get in good with them that we can’t miss. I have a feeling about it.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara kept pace beside him, “A good feeling or a bad feeling?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A feeling.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead of a barbed retort, Mara fell into silence. Her silences were more dangerous, Luke had learned. She still struggled to let go of her anger and frustrations, though it was very early in her official training as a Jedi. To combat it, he had realized that the jesting had to be put aside and concerns seriously addressed before she could relax. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s a lot going on here and my main mission has always been to defeat the Empire and bring balance back to the galaxy. Volunteering for someone else’s struggle may sound crazed, but Jedi are supposed to help bring order, and keep the peace.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They entered the room Artoo found and it was just as bland as every other room they had checked. A bed</span>
  <span>;</span>
  <span> a viewport at least. Nothing personal about it. Luke went to set down his charge onto the bed where Grogu started to squirm in his sleep as if about to fuss. Luke pressed his hand against the child’s chest and gently rocked him until he was soothed.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara set Luke’s bag down next to the bed without a sound, and when she spoke it was just above a whisper. “It’s just reckless.”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>It made him smile. “I know, but I’m in good company.” Mara Jade the ex-assassin and experienced smuggler was as resourceful and smart as one could want for company</span><span> in dangerous situations</span><span>. It also helped that she </span><span>had a counterargument</span> <span>for everything </span><span>even if it was </span><span>tinged with pessimism. It helped to keep him grounded.</span><span> “</span><span>Meet </span><span>at the mess at o-six-hundred?” He offered.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>I’ll be there.” </span>
  <span>She left the room to head back to her own she had picked earlier</span>
  <span> for its closeness to a main computer terminal and the turbolift.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke sat</span>
  <span> at the end of the bed and sifted through a thousand thoughts on the situation</span>
  <span>. The highlights that kept insisting on his attention </span>
  <span>were; how best could he help, what would Leia start with first, and </span>
  <span>what was Mando </span>
  <span>planning to do with his Force-sensitive son?</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if summoned, the </span>
  <span>room door sounded for permission to open.</span>
  <span> Artoo must have already recoded the lock. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke </span>
  <span>gave a small flick through the Force to the door switch.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mando</span>
  <span>, still completely armored</span>
  <span>, </span>
  <span>armed</span>
  <span>, and face concealed,</span>
  <span> stepped into the room when the doors opened.</span>
  <span> He hesitated to move in any further though, the sense of </span>
  <span>confusion lined in frustration rolled off the man in waves.</span>
  <span> “Is he okay?” </span>
  <span>Frustration turned to concern.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just sleeping.” Luke motioned Mando further in. “Come. Anything I need to know about the situation?” He kept his voice low. “I assume we will be stopping somewhere to get crew enough to man this ship for battle?” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mando took just enough steps in to allow the door to close behind him. “In six hours. </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> and Reeves have been short on the details, but four days after that we’ll be in the Mandalore sector.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a long route</span>
  <span>.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am guessing it is to give everyone enough time to learn their stations. Avoid the hyperlanes.” There was a swell of silence while Mando seemed to consider what else he wanted to say. Finally, he tilted his head just a fraction and brought up what was on his mind. “Since you’re coming with us, could you train him? </span>
  <span>I can’t.” The words ground out. “He can do weird things, things I can’t understand. What else am I supposed to do?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Weird things? Luke guessed that t</span>
  <span>he Force had been called more derogatory terms. </span>
  <span>He looked over at the too small being that still slept</span>
  <span> against the pillow that was bigger than him. </span>
  <span>“He’s young yet. Surely he can just be a child for a while?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>fifty.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“Oh? Then he should be teaching me then</span><span>. </span><span>I’m only twenty-nine.”</span> <span>He smiled for emphasis</span><span>, with a hope that it would loosen up the conversation.</span></p>
<p><span>It had not.</span> <span>“Is this a joke to you, Jedi?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Luke. Call me Luke.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Luke</span>
  </em>
  <span>, can you help him or not?”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>Beneath the armor and the tension still, Luke could see </span><span>a desperation born of a very deep connection </span><span>Mando </span><span>had with Grogu.</span> <span>It must have made </span><span>a situation Mando didn’t understand </span><span>more</span> <span>concerning. </span><span>The Force</span><span> was mysterious, but it had brought Luke here</span><span>, because here was where he </span><span>was needed. In more ways than one.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>I’ll help you both.</span>
  <span> It’s what I do.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p><hr/>
<p>
  
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was sitting on one of the mess hall’s tables when Mara entered through the main doors. Across from him, the Mandalorian everyone called Mando even though that </span>
  <em>
    <span>could not</span>
  </em>
  <span> be the man’s real name, was feeding the gremlin from a ration bar. She knew about the </span>
  <span>Mandalorian’s</span>
  <span> and their culture of adoption but taking a Force-sensitive seemed a bit of a stretch. Every Mandalorian she had ever met hated Jedi, but there Mando was in Luke’s company voluntarily.</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“Alright Skywalker</span><span>, what’s today’s lesson? </span><span>Balancing spoons in midair?</span><span>” The mess seemed an </span><span>unusual</span><span> place to train.</span><span> There was a perfectly good</span> <span>blaster range and melee ring</span><span> onboard that would have served better, she was sure.</span></p>
<p><span>Luke </span><span>waved her over, “</span><span>Rehashing lessons today since Grogu</span><span> w</span><span>i</span><span>ll be joining us.”</span> <span>The gremlin perked up at his name, big ears wiggled with interest. “Just some meditation</span><span>.”</span></p>
<p><span>It took more in her than maybe it should have for Mara to not </span><span>burst out in a </span><span>frustrated</span><span> sigh. Luke insisted that meditation would help her </span><span>organize her mind and calm her admittedly hot emotions, but it </span><span>just felt like a waste of time. She preferred lightsaber practice or</span><span> Force-kinetics</span><span>.</span> <span>Practical application. “</span><span>Can we at least spar after?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“If you insist.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She took a seat on top of the table next to Luke, which was cold but better than the floor. When she crossed her legs in the typical pose they used for meditating, the gremlin saw and then copied her. For something that looked like it couldn’t function on its own, it showed a good amount of motor skill.</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>Luke pulled up his legs to sit </span><span>for meditation as well and then it was only Mando </span><span>left </span><span>in a normal seat</span><span>.</span> <span>“Aren’t you joining us?” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t this Jedi stuff?” Modulated though the helmet as it was, Mando’s voice sounded more sarcastic than was probably meant. Nothing about the man felt antagonistic at least.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Meditation is for everyone.” She countered. It was a direct quote from Luke before she had agreed to be a Jedi. “Just sit like this and empty your mind. Three hours later you find inner peace.” She said with heavy side-eye to Luke.</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“Mara has trouble with it even on her better days.</span><span> Grogu has even more experience with it than the both of us combined, so he’s going to lead us in meditation today.” Luke </span><span>gave an encouraging smile to the imp, who then cooed in response.</span> <span>“Maybe,” He </span><span>gave a pointed look to her, “you’ll learn something.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>What do you mean he has more experience?”</span>
  <span> The kid couldn’t have been older than the equivalent of a toddler.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eyes gleaming with mirth, Luke leaned in like a conspirator. “</span>
  <span>Grogu is fifty years old. He trained in the Old Jedi Temple.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mando confirmed, “That’s what he told the last Jedi we met. He used some sort of mind-talk with her.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was like a jolt. Another Jedi? “What?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was as still as stone.</span>
  <span> “</span>
  <span>You didn’t mention another Jedi before.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The</span>
  <span> Mandalorian </span>
  <span>paused</span>
  <span>, “She said that there weren’t many of you left</span>
  <span> so I thought you all knew each other.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unbelievable.</span>
  <span> Where did this guy get dredged up from</span>
  <span>, </span>
  <span>Unknown space? “</span>
  <span>If there were any real Jedi </span>
  <span>left,</span>
  <span> they went so deep into exile they wouldn’t dare try to contact each other. The Purge saw to that.” She had hunted a few of the Jedi who had been too brazen to </span>
  <span>stay hidden. The Empire had been thorough.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took a moment, but Luke thawed from his stillness. “Well, the Empire as it was is no longer an issue, so maybe those in exile are finally coming back.” His voice made the hypothesis a wistful hopefulness. After the death of that insane Master Jedi C’baoth clone, there hadn’t been anyone new beyond Leia’s twins and now the Mandalorian’s son. Luke was always looking for vergences in the Force on his missions for the Republic, but it was a big half-unknown galaxy. He was bound to miss some when they had practice at hiding for almost three decades.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mando shrugged, “The Empire purged the Mandalorians from our entire sector, but there’s still Mandalorians.” He stood from his chair and moved to sit on the table next to the gremlin. He looked ridiculous crossing his legs in all that shiny armor and leather, but he managed. “Like this, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ad</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” He asked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It gave an affirmative, “Bah!”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wasn’t even surprised when Luke literally let the kid lead the meditation. It dropped into the deepened Force state as easily as breathing, with enough pull in the Force that anyone sensitive could feel it.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Close your eyes to everything around you. Look inward. Disperse thought.” Luke intoned as he followed suit. “There’s a stillness beyond thought. Your heart beats. You exist in a simple state.” The Force thrummed as if summoned at the words.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara did as she was told, and allowed the Force to enable that profound state of meditation she still couldn’t achieve on her own. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cold and empty mess hall receded from her senses, instead a gentle warmth filled her.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Time went... somewhere.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She felt light.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her heart beat in the still space.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And the stillness stopped.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was roar like ocean waves. The smell of dirt. Coppery blood that stuck in her throat.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>A hum, pure energy contained.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The clang of metal, a high sound that continued eerie into the silence.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despair.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara gasped as abruptly she came out of the vision. She had slapped her hand against the table next to her and the sting of impact cleared what was left of the fog. The light of the mess hall was too bright.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What... was that?” It was the Mandalorian. He was leaned forward as if he was about to be sick.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was already up and tried to comfort the kid that had started a fit of concerned whines as it tried to crawl in the </span>
  <span>Mandalorian’s</span>
  <span> lap. “Hey, everything is okay. It was just the Force showing us something.” He braced the armored man and kept him from falling off the table by the look of it.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had visions before, the same kind of dark and foreboding harbingers of doom that this one tasted like. This was the first time she had been a part of a joint vision though. It gave her a headache. “I thought meditating was supposed to be good for you?” She mused.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Distressed more than she’d seen from him since they’d left Coruscant, Luke’s face tightened with a grimace. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think the trance would affect you, Mando. Are you okay? Mara, come here and help me.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It did look like the Mandalorian was having a hard time of it. Nothing about him was steady. She found her own balance and took Mando’s other side to brace him. “Maybe take the helmet off so he can breathe?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>The Mandalorian pushed them both aside abruptly. He stood and stumbled away, leaving the rest of them startled into stillness. Mando wavered. He raised one gloved hand, as if to stop them. “No.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, alright, but are you sure you’re good?” But even as Mara asked, the Mandalorian steadied into a what was definitely a defensive stance. “Visions are bad, take it from me, but don’t let it get to you.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke nodded. He had picked up the still agitated kid. “Mando, whatever you saw you have to know that you can’t fear what it might mean. Fear leads us down a terrible path that tears us apart. It’s hard to come back from.” He gently bounced the kid as emphasis. “And you’re worrying Grogu.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>That, at least, seemed to be enough. Mando relaxed the barest fraction, and approached with caution to take the kid back. “Sorry, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ad</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’m fine.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you?” Luke asked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ten to one, the Mandalorian definitely wasn’t fine. Mara was used to the oppressive weight of compulsions and visions through the Force. What was it like for someone with no defenses at all? “Giving my hands something to do usually helps me. You want to do some sparring, Mandalorian?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>His shoulders set back. A small tilt of that helmed gaze. Mando answered with a business-like briskness, “Yeah. Let’s go.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Ironing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There are a few kinks in the plan to work out, but at least the armor fits.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>No magic, no weapons, just whatever concussive force they could manage with kicks and fists. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ship’s melee room was lightly padded and barely used, but at least it had been close enough to the mess hall that Din’s anger hadn’t had time to leave him. He was in agreement with Jade; it was good to work off the worst of what he felt with something methodical. Something he was good at. He was good at fighting. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara Jade was also rather good.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was fast as he predicted. Something about the way she tended to keep on her toes. She kicked high, he blocked instead of moving back. A roundhouse came immediately for his head, but he grabbed for her leg, pulled it under his arm to hold her in place so he could swing a punch to her midriff, but she was gone. Jade dropped all her weight to the floor, pulling from his grasp, and twisted her other leg to hook around his calf to bring him off balance.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Din stepped out, caught himself. He stomped down. She rolled away and back to her feet, keeping low. He was too close, she punched for his kidneys. He pushed her away.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They traded blows. Vicious, she found a way around his armor. The hits he landed knocked her back, but she never went on the defense. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It became like that meditative state these sorcerers had dropped him into earlier. The mindlessness. The empty.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Until there were a thousand of voices. Until there were bright spots of pain. The smell of ozone. The vision forced on him from magic. Din could see it, so clearly, his helmet falling into the dirt.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wanted to haunt him. The fear it invoked was nothing like he had known before but it wanted to eat at him, so he swung. So, he kicked. So, he grabbed and lifted and threw Jade with a thoroughness as if he could toss away the vision. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somewhere in the flurry of give and take, he missed the guard and Jade jumped into him. She caught him in a hold between her thighs that used all her weight—and his—to throw him to the ground. Her knuckles punched his windpipe.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tapped out.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>His lungs burned and coughing into the confines of his helmet was his least favorite necessary evil. Every bit of armor felt heavier than it should have. His joints ached. Din could feel the bruises forming as he let his overheated body catch a moment’s rest on the floor.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a concerned whine from the kid that was closer than he should have been. When Din turned to look, the kid was toddling all the way to him where Skywalker had let him go from outside the painted circle on the floor. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker followed, “Did that help any? You two were getting pretty violent there for a few moments. I had to stop Grogu from trying to use the Force to throw you both apart.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Din finally found his breath enough to talk, but instead all he offered was a grunt as he made his way into a sitting position. It gave him a good look at Jade, who was already in a casual ready stance at the edge of the ring. She clutched a metal cylinder in her hands like the hilt of a sword.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a snap-hiss, the glow of a blue laser emitted from the hilt threw an eerie light across her features. “Alright Skywalker, your turn.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker scooped up the kid and put him into Din’s arms. “Thanks for wearing her down for me, Mando. Hopefully, she’ll go easy on me.” He patted at Din’s shoulder, the pauldron there making a soft clang in response.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.” He got to his feet and made it to the edge of the circle in time to see the Jedi power on his own green-white laser sword. Both of them at ready was an interesting picture. He had watched others of his tribe fight with swords and other blades before, but this was entirely different.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were unarmored, yet still they fought with a surety and quickness that left no room for doubts. When the blue and green swords crossed, they crackled with energy, sometimes sending sparks.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker, dressed all in black, danced around Jade’s attacks as smooth as a shadow following her every move. He had a counter for everything.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jade stayed graceful, but put in the obvious effort to wield the sword that Din could now tell was too big for her hands. She ended up using a two-handed grip more often than Skywalker did and it cost her in reach what it gained her in power. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a sparring match, it was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jedi, huh?” Reeves said from behind him.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had heard the door open, but hadn’t been able to take his attention off the match. After being scared out his wits by Jedi magic, it was soothing to watch the Jedi fight each other. He responded without turning, “Yeah, crazy.” And it was. Sparring was usually a game of false starts, missteps, and pulled punches. What the Jedi were doing was closer to art.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reeves stepped up the line beside him to either get a closer look or to talk to him easier. “</span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> says they’re going to help us take back </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span> probably.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably?” They’d only agreed to ensure quick passage through Republic space.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She says Jedi are attracted to trouble. Problem is that Jedi aren’t exactly well-liked with us.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re supposed to be our enemies.” Though he really doubted that was the case.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, so I’m going to get them some recruit armor at our stop. Think you can get them to wear it? Helmets and all?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>At this he did turn to her. “Are you kidding? You want me to convince Jedi to take the Creed?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes. “It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>beskar</span>
  </em>
  <span>, so no, they don’t have to live by the tenets, but you’ll want to at least make sure they know what the tenets are so they can be convincing enough. And none of this,” she waved at the sword fight, “where anyone can walk in.” Then she huffed, “Keep the pretty one’s face hidden in particular.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're going to have to be more specific.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if to contribute, the kid agreed with a “Bah!” from where Din held the kid facing out from his chest.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reeves squinted at him, “Skywalker. The famous one.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah.” Right.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p><hr/>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Artoo is my code patched back in?” Luke was tense despite himself. When </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> said they were dropping out of hyperspace at Orinda he had to put on his most assured face. He had expected them to drop at some small planet or space station well away from the </span>
  <span>hyperlanes</span>
  <span>. Not test his word in a hive of activity of New Republic enforcers around the recently captured planet. There was a very good chance that squadrons on patrol would attack them on sight.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And five people and droid would have no way battling in a ship the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Pryer’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>size which needed a minimum of fifty crewmen who had access to all the controls and systems normally. Mara’s hardcoded backdoor access from her time serving the Galactic Empire only got them so far. They still needed to reprogram most systems to even respond to new commands.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <span>astromech</span>
  <span> warbled a concerned confirmation. Luke sat at the communications station and mentally counted down the seconds until Reeves dropped them out of hyperspace.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> was right at his shoulder, and every bit as physically tense as Luke tried not to show. “This better work, Skywalker. Scrubbing the ship in Orinda will save me a lot of headache.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll work.” But the Council wasn’t going to like it. The Senate would get in an uproar if they found out because a motivated politician tried to use it to their advantage. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drop in five.” Reeves called from the helm.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Five seconds later, Luke was punching in listening frequencies for broadband Republic channels and within seconds hit on a channel for a squadron patrol.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We have incoming, </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span>.” Reeves brought up what was likely the same squadron on the repeater displays. Five X-wings already turned their way.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“New Republic squadron, this is Commander Luke Skywalker on the reclaimed Imperial cruiser </span>
  <em>
    <span>Pryer</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Do you read?” He checked the readouts for other hailing channels, but the one he was connected to had the strongest signal so the squadron must have heard him. “New Republic squadron, do you read? This is--”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We read you, Commander. Just had a hard time believing it.” The voice </span>
  <span>of heavily</span>
  <span> accented </span>
  <span>Corellian</span>
  <span> from the squadron leader fed through the command deck for everyone to hear. “Encryption checks out. What can we do for you, sir?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Relief was a tangible thing from everyone on deck. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We just want to onboard some people and supplies so I’ll need an all clear registered while we anchor.” It was a stretch. Planetary defense would be uneasy about having an Imperial ship anywhere close to their orbit, let alone allowing traffic. He would need to open up to relay to Coruscant to clear the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Pryer </span>
  </em>
  <span>this close to the disputed border of the Imperial remnant territory. “I could use a connection to Coruscant as well.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Acknowledged. Standby.” And the channel cut out.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> gripped his shoulder heavily, “If this works, it’ll cut off a lot of time from my original schedule.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll work.” He assured again. If there was one benefit for his reinstated commission, it was that military channels were often quicker than those available for private citizens. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end, it did work as he promised. They still kept far enough away from Orinda to keep everyone at ease, but they were allowed to anchor with clearance. </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> and Reeves immediately took over a second control board to make their own calls and Luke put on the headset to initiate another more private connection.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara sidled up to Kryze’s vacated spot by Luke’s shoulder. She had already argued that Leia was not going to like their situation, and he could tell she was there to hear firsthand how much she was right. The relay took his encryption supplied by Artoo and it wasn’t too long before he was routed through Coruscant security and straight to Councilor Leia Organa Solo’s personal terminal.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Leia.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Oh</span>
  <span> don’t you, ‘Hey Leia’ me. I got the report from Captain </span>
  <span>M’kirq</span>
  <span> that you </span>
  <em>
    <span>assigned</span>
  </em>
  <span> yourself a mission to </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span>? Do you realize the commotion this has caused? Fully automated AI dark troopers and a captured ex-ISB Moff. You’re supposed to be in Ord Cantrell taking it easy. Does pirating Imperial cruisers count as a good time?” The disappointment in Leia’s reprimand was crystal clear six-thousand parsecs away. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tried to keep the guilt out of his response. “</span>
  <span>Thrawn’s</span>
  <span> still out there, Leia, I don’t know how you expect me to relax knowing that. Anyway, there was a child that needed my help.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A child?” At this his sister seemed to ease off a little. “There was a child on the Moff’s cruiser? Drafted?” She was thinking the rumors of children being drafted forcibly by the warlords in what remained of Imperial territory. So far, they hadn’t found a lot of evidence to support the claim, but after the Battle of Bilbringi and with </span>
  <span>Thrawn</span>
  <span> still unaccounted for, it wasn’t entirely discounted.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No this is different. He’s in the care of the Mandalorians. I agreed to help them get to their home world. Apparently, there’s still Imperial presence there.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s still remnants all throughout the Outer Rim, Luke. You said you would take a break.” And the heat was back. “Admiral Ackbar has already talked to me twice about this. Being a Commander again doesn’t mean you can still do whatever and go wherever you want.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He swallowed the tightness in his throat. “Isn’t it? I only got my commission back so Ackbar could send me resources without having to go through the red tape of the Senate. Pretty sure the intention is exactly what I’m doing.” It wasn’t painless to argue with Leia. Most of her rebuke was born of concern for his wellbeing. The entire point of the vacation on Ord Cantrell was to heal and get his mind in order after their ordeal on Wayland at </span>
  <span>Thrawn’s</span>
  <span> clone lab. He didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span> changing plans on her, but when the Force called on him it was annoyingly hard to ignore.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Senate is not going to agree to send resources to help </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span> out, Luke.  It’ll just be you and Mara out there.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke passed a glance at Mara who gave a silent gestured response of, ‘I told you so.’</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s okay. They don’t want help from the New Republic anyway.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That doesn’t make it better!”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leia, please, if you could help get this mission confirmed with the rest of the Council that’d work wonders. And if I get any information on Thrawn while I’m out here, that’s to our benefit, right?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a long pause from his sister’s end. Luke could just imagine her going through the calming techniques he had taught her. Finally, “I’ll see what I can do here. Bel Iblis will agree without much prompting, but Luke, please be careful.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Always am.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Categorically untrue.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smiled, “I’ll call again when I have another secure channel.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You better.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He clicked off, removed the headset and spun his chair to face Mara who seemed to be keeping very tight control of her emotions and expressions. “Well?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tilted her head to the two Mandalorian women still making their own calls in a language that wasn’t Basic or </span>
  <span>Huttese</span>
  <span>... Mandalorian then? “Later. Mando said he wanted to talk to us before anyone else comes aboard. I’m guessing it has something to do with being Jedi and Republic on a Mandalorian manned ship flying to neutral space.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think we’ll have a lot of trouble?” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara didn’t even bother to reply. The answer to that question was always ‘yes’.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p><hr/>
<p>
  
</p>
<p><span>Getting the Jedi to agree to the disguises wasn’t a challenge at all. In fact, Jade decided they would take it five steps further by actually </span>being<span> recruits to the Nite Owls. “Then we’re not even lying and we get to stick with </span><span>Kryze</span><span> and be there for whatever her master plan is.” She had reasoned.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>It had struck a weird chord with Din. The tenets were a holy thing, ingrained in the very definition of being Mandalorian. “Can Jedi do that?” Everything he had so far been told about these sorcerers implied differently.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker had waved off the question. “Band together, wear the armor, learn the language, fight, teach your children to do the same. Sounds about as inclusive as it can be. I don’t see a problem with it.”</span>
  
</p>
<p><span>“But you don’t actually want to </span>be <span>Mandalorian.” He had argued. It had to be heresy.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, we’re just recruits, right? If it doesn’t work out then there’s no harm. It’s a trial period.” Jade had argued.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grudgingly, Din had given up. He had been given an entire year to decide if he would take the Creed, and in the meantime had still been trained and cared for as if he had belonged. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now the Jedi were in their respective rooms while more </span>
  <span>Mandalorians</span>
  <span> filed onto the ship. He stood in the hallway, waiting for his two new charges to suit up and meet him. This particular vantage gave him a log of who was being given access to the bridge. More Nite Owls in the majority with their blue and gray, but others were wearing gray and yellow armor. Learning clan and house colors had never been a part of the Tribe’s lessons, so who these others were, he didn’t know.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>What he was really trying to process, was just how many there were. Hundreds. A full ship’s compliment. He had been so sure that this many Mandalorians didn’t even exist in the galaxy any longer.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Many of them didn’t wear their helms though, only carried them. Very few had jetpacks. For many that walked by, the armor they wore didn’t carry any dents, or scratches in the paint. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>More recruits. It had to be.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> had the makings of a real militia somehow. Though why was he surprised? She had probably been working on exactly this since the Great Purge.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Credit for your thoughts?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Din absolutely did not startle, but it did take him a moment to convince his own hand not to drop to the blaster at his hip. “Skywalker.” He turned to the Jedi.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And felt his brain jump to hyperspace without the rest of him.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sorcerer in nebulous black was gone. Instead, Skywalker wore a dark gray, form-fitting bodysuit that refused to be modest, revealing in detail an athletic figure that had been hidden before. The matte, gray-blue armor only managed to emphasize contours instead of distract. Even the helmet seemed to give Skywalker a greater intensity of focus. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mando?” The Jedi prompted. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going to have to call me by my name.” The statement was out before he had thought on it. It would odd for someone of their culture to call another Mandalorian ‘Mando’ wouldn’t it?</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker’s laugh sounded flat from the helmet’s modulation, but the movements were the same as before. A small head shake, a hand raised to rub the back of his neck. “I don’t even know your name. I thought it was Mando.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span>.” He supplied. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, well, nice to meet you, </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span>. I’m afraid that if this is going to be convincing though, you’ll have to remember not to call me by my family name. There’s definitely other Lukes in the galaxy, so stick with that.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. Luke.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skywalker rapped a knuckle against Din’s pauldron. “Is your armor heavy as well? I feel like I’m weight training.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your </span>
  <span>durasteel</span>
  <span> is lighter than </span>
  <em>
    <span>beskar</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but it won’t protect you as much, so you’ll have to be careful.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Jedi gave an audible sigh, “Always am.” He said as if he had said it a hundred times before. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>This time, Din saw his other charge approach. Her chest plate flattened curves that would likely identify her as a human female, but he could tell it was Jade by the way she walked. Otherwise, she wore the same outfit as Skywalker, which minded all the same detail. Again, he felt at a loss for thought. Both of them looked so... natural. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jade tucked herself into their now complete triangle. “You ready for this, Skywalker?” She asked in the empty hallway.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Luke.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He and Skywalker said immediately.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Noted!” She had raised her gloved hands in defense. “Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Luke</span>
  </em>
  <span>, did you figure out how to carry your...” she mimicked holding a sword, “I have an extra holster that could work.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just left it with Artoo. I’m pretty good with a blaster so it should be fine.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jade hissed under her breath, the helmet barely picking it up. “What happened to never letting it out of your sight?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a guideline, not a rule.” There was a sense of Skywalker rolling his eyes, somehow conveyed despite being hidden. “You’ve always said you’re more comfortable with blasters anyway.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jade looked to Din, “He’s the worst teacher. I can’t believe you trust him with the kid.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>In less than twenty-four hours Din had seen Skywalker fight twice, care for the kid, and fill out Mandalorian armor like he belonged in it, so it seemed pretty plain to him that Jade’s concerns weren’t valid. “The kid likes him.” And before Jade could start up a response, Din took ahold of the shoulders of each the Jedi and apprentice to face them towards the turbolift. “We better go before Reeves finds us and we get assigned to cleaning the carbon scoring off the hull.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are we going?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Equipment.” Because he knew there were crates being loaded at that very moment. “When one follows the Way, they’ll need weapons.”</span>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The chapter title is a pun, har har.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Infrastructure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An emergency override is activated on Moff Gideon’s ship, turning off the gravity. It’s fine. It’ll probably be fine.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My biggest thanks to @Robinade for the wealth of support and beautiful contributions. ily &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“What’s an ‘M Count’?” Mara tapped through scientific jargon on the display, hoping for more keywords that made any sense.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was leaned over her left shoulder, but even as he read what was scrolling by, he shook his head. “I can only guess. Given it’s </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span>, probably something to do with his species.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span>, to Mara’s right, also shook his head. “Gideon said he wanted to study the kid’s blood. Something about bringing order back to the galaxy. On </span>
  <span>Nevarro</span>
  <span>, there was a </span>
  <span>holo</span>
  <span>’ of Pershing saying that they weren’t likely to find someone with a higher M count.” At the mention of the gremlin’s ordeal, </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> patted at </span>
  <span>Grogu’s</span>
  <span> wrinkled head, making his ears wiggle in happiness. The kid was quite content to hang out in the sling bag the Mandalorian wore and watch them.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Though slicing into the Moff’s science lab systems with Artoo’s new program couldn’t have been that interesting to see. Just the three of them tensely watching the displays for anything concerning.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Artoo had of course been successful slicing in. The new program was designed with Ghent’s help; the best slicer in the galaxy who decoded Grand Admiral Thrawn’s infamous Delta Source encryption. Unlike Ghent though, Artoo could simply sweet-talk the ship’s mainframe into letting them poke around ISB data containers.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unfortunately, all they were getting was a bunch of raw data, and no analytical reports that would actually tell them </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gideon wanted the </span>
  <span>kid</span>
  <span>. “I guess we really will have to wait to see what the interrogators can get out of the Moff.” It irritated Mara. There had been a time when she knew all the secret projects the Empire was working on. But this was the </span>
  <span>Imp</span>
  <span>erial Remnant, only tangentially related to the Galactic Empire she had served in. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Pryer</span>
  </em>
  <span> might have been commissioned at the beginning of the </span>
  <span>Emperor’s</span>
  <span> reign, but that was the only thing the Remnant had in common with her anymore.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, we can at least get this back to Coruscant and they can use it to puzzle out anything they get from him.” Luke straightened with an easy pat to her shoulder. “See what we can load to a ‘chip and next time I get access to a relay or a courier I’ll be able to send it along.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> slumped back into his chair with an air of the defeated. “I hope Gideon and Pershing were the only ones after him. If this </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span> thing doesn’t work out, I’d rather not go back to being on the run.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unsurprisingly, Luke waved the concern away. “I said I would help you both. You can just come with me back to Coruscant.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara could just imagine the gossip that would be stirred up from that. Journalists and reporters who frequented the Galactic City circuit of </span>
  <span>holonet</span>
  <span> news already delighted over making wild accusations about her own relationship with the hero of the Republic. What would they say about a shiny Mandalorian bounty hunter and a green baby taking up residence in Luke’s suite of rooms? Everything from scandalous to conspiratorial. “Leia will like that.” Which was to say, not at all.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, it might take the interest off her and the twins.” Even though the helmet hid it, she could tell Luke was definitely smiling at the idea. No one would accuse him of liking media attention, but he did seem to like helping his sister take a break from the public eye by causing up a stir, even as he complained about it.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> didn’t seem to be sold on the idea in his silence, but at least he knew it was an option. She knew Luke had grown attached to the gremlin child and would hate to lose track of him. It’d barely been three days.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She stuck a </span>
  <span>datachip</span>
  <span> into the input slot of her console and nodded the go-ahead to Artoo who acknowledged with a trill of beeps. The readout brought up a load bar for tracking and made it to exactly one-percent when the Pryer’s ship-wide alert system blared.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The demanding red of the alarm lights took over the soft blue-white in the lab.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Think this has to do with the download?” The display was still at one-percent and Artoo was making a low series of concerned whines. “You’re in the system, figure it out.” She tapped at the dome of the droid for emphasis.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <span>astromech</span>
  <span> grunted even as the </span>
  <span>scomp</span>
  <span> link rotated to lock into a new position. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Luke had gone still, “There’s just confusion. No one's panicked yet.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then the ship shuddered to a definable halt.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> cursed. “I knew this was a bad idea. I told Kryze we should just leave it.” The accusation sounded more tired than angry.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Artoo gave a distraught beep. The readout that had previously had the load bar now had a translation. [“Fail-safe activated. Dark trooper protocol activated. Systematic shutdown initiated.”]</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“More Dark troopers? Luke, you took them all out, right?” She slammed the console, hitting enough buttons for the computer to yell at her in error.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>[“Download has been corrupted. Main computer unresponsive.”] Artoo disconnected from the console after with a sad beep.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The red alarm abruptly stopped, replaced by the dim lighting of the emergency subsystem that was hardwired. The vents that had been a background noise clicked into ominous silence.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Everyone have an </span>
  <span>exo</span>
  <span>-kit?” Mara checked her own neck and wrist seals, and ran the system diagnostic from her gauntlet control to make sure it was ready to go when the ship’s air ran out.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> nodded, “I checked the seals this morning. What are you doing?” He asked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was moving aside </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> arm to get the bag off. “Give me </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span>, he doesn’t have a kit, but there’s backup systems here. We can put him in an incubator stasis pod if it gets to that point.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And where’s your kit?” Mara scolded. When Luke had turned to put </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span> on one of the medical beds, his back was markedly bare of a gas-converter bank. Djarin had done a thorough job of making sure they both had a full complement of weapons and tools, but Luke hadn’t bothered to reequip any of it today. Just one blaster on his hip. Useless.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke now waved her concern away with the same infuriating nonchalance. “I’ll worry about it when the air becomes unbreathable.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>A grumble from Djarin interrupted, “Does anyone have Kryze’s channel?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Why don’t you?” Mara demanded to know. Of the three of them, he was the most likely to have it.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> There was a long moment of silence. “I deleted it and changed my channel after the first time she ordered me to attend some meeting," </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> admitted.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> If Mara hadn't been wearing a helmet, she would have pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off the oncoming headache. “</span>
  <span>So</span>
  <span> what then, we just stand around hoping that someone assigned to systems control can figure out how to get the mainframe up and running again?” No comms except between the three of them, air was limited, and the power was out. What was next?</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>A loud clang echoed across the hull of the ship, and then they were floating. The droid warbled and </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span> squealed.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That would be the gravity plates going offline.” Luke held on to </span>
  <span>Grogu’s</span>
  <span> bed to stay still, but his feet came off the floor all the same.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Typical," Mara muttered out loud. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The room was slowly going vertical.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No stabilizers either, but why the tilt?” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> allowed the motion of the ship to pass from beneath his feet and resolved into a seated position in the air with his small cape floating up and around him. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mass shadow. Radiation wave. It depends on where we dropped from hyperspace.” Luke gave up trying to remain level and instead went upside down relative to the rest of them. “I think you should go, Mara. Maybe they’ll fix everything and it will have been nothing to worry about, but maybe they could use a hand from an ex-imperial. If the comms </span>
  <span>go</span>
  <span> out, you can use the Force to contact me.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think you should go, Mara. Maybe they’ll fix everything and it will have been nothing to worry about, but maybe they could use a hand from an ex-imperial. If the comms go out, you can use the Force to contact me.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara turned her head to </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span>, certain he could feel her glare even through the helmet, daring him to say anything about her imperial history. It had been implied earlier, but not blatantly stated. She could be upset at Luke for making things awkward, but she knew it had probably slipped his mind in the worry of the situation.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> dipped his head down and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘Not my business’. He added out loud, “I’ll go too. The doors are going to have to be opened manually, and that will be easier with two of us.” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> used the spear he kept attached to a clip on his back to push off one of the consoles towards the doors that were slowly rotating upwards. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he passed Mara, he grabbed her under the arm to pull her the rest of the way out of her seat and set them spinning towards their destination.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With his spear for tight maneuvering and his jetpack on its lowest setting for the long corridors, all Mara had to do was help </span>
  <span>leverage</span>
  <span> the doors and hold on to </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> hand. It was strangely like dancing as they had to push from walls and into each other. It had been a long time since she danced at all. “This could have been worse.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> arm was pressed against hers as he gently pushed her around a corner. “Don’t speak anything into existence.” He even turned to face her to plea. “I’m still trying to get used to the mind-reading and the visions.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think the Force works the way you think it does. And no one is reading your mind.” Mara laughed at </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> continued confusion over what he called magic. It was especially funny when she could honestly relate to his distrust of it. “But I guess if anyone could make </span>
  <span>bad things</span>
  <span> happen just by saying aloud that they’ll happen, that would be Luke.” She had seen him do a few crazy things already. What was one more trick?</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Very reassuring," Djarin said dryly.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way to the </span>
  <span>turbolift</span>
  <span> remained mostly empty, but the other crew they bumped into all reported the same. No power, comms, or ventilation. Some were on their way to the escape pods just in case. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the </span>
  <span>turbolifts</span>
  <span> offline they ended up in the maintenance shafts, which would normally take forever to get up ten decks, but without gravity it was considerably easier. Still not the best however, with the ship rotating steadily around them. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of the life-or-death situations she had been in, this one was the most </span>
  <span>ponderously</span>
  <span> slow. If they </span>
  <span>couldn’t</span>
  <span> get the main computer restarted then they would eventually run out of air, but on a ship the size of the Pryer, that could be days. In the meantime, the distress beacon was surely active and all the escape pods had to be fully charged by now. </span>
  <span>As long as</span>
  <span> they were in </span>
  <span>somewhat friendly</span>
  <span> space, they were probably fine.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did he mean it?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> was behind her. They had just turned a corner in one of the </span>
  <span>tunnels</span>
  <span> and she was pulling him along with her own momentum, so it was said into the close silence of them floating along. “Luke? Did he mean what?” Had she missed a whole conversation? </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That we could go with him to Coruscant?” Djarin was usually a cloud of frustration, distress, or worry, and many times combinations thereof. Right now she could tell he was worried about the situation but not excessively so. For once the strongest feeling Mara got from him was curiosity. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She grabbed one of the </span>
  <span>ladder</span>
  <span> holds and pulled them both further on before answering. “Luke always says exactly what he means. It’s part of his farm-boy charm that gets him in trouble so much.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They passed through two more junctures as </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> thought. They were in view of the shaft exit when he said, "It wouldn't be difficult to take a ship from whatever base they have in the sector. I don't think any of us has to stay longer than it takes to get a ride out of there."</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara realized he was assuming that the four of them-- her, Luke, </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span>, and the kid-- would be staying together. She didn't know how to feel about that. </span>
  <span>Ultimately,</span>
  <span> she decided it didn't matter; he didn't know Luke well enough. “Sorry to spoil your dreams there," she told him, </span>
  <span>"but</span>
  <span> Luke won't leave </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span> without taking care of the Imperials."</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sensed a flare of frustration in Djarin. “It’s not his war.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If the Imperial Remnant or an ex-imperial warlord is there, then there won’t be a thing you could do to convince him otherwise. Not with a Grand Admiral consolidating forces.” They opened the hatch and floated one by one into the new, empty corridor. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She continued, “He’s terrible at staying out of it. He can’t ignore a situation when he thinks he can help. Two Imperial officers turned themselves in when the Holonet headlined ‘Commander Skywalker, Back in Action’ after Bilbringi. It was a whole thing.” She waved her hands for emphasis, even as Djarin took her elbow to pull her along. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her silver companion remained silent, though she couldn’t tell if he had moved on from the subject or if he was formulating an argument. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You might have better luck just heading to Coruscant on your own and take up with his family,” Mara offered. “The Organa-Solos have even more connections and resources. You could just wait for us there.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Solo? Sounds familiar,” Djarin said thoughtfully.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, General Han Solo and Councilor Leia Organa Solo.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>At that he stopped to look back at her. “Han Solo? The guy worth a million to the Hutts? The one who hired a bounty hunter to kill Jabba?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara couldn’t help but smile at his astonishment. “No bounty hunter, it was actually Leia in disguise.” It was one of the dinner stories she had first engaged in since it intersected with her own. She added, “Pretty sure Han cleared his debt with the Hutts. And Luke would be upset if you tried to turn Han in.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Noted.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And for a rare moment, </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> was amused.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The System Control room was busy with </span>
  <span>mandos</span>
  <span> floating around the massive, multi-deck-spanning room checking readouts and displays. From every screen Mara could see it was the same story. Error: System Failure. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, what’s the deal? Why aren’t we back online?” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> had grabbed one of the gray-yellow, Wren </span>
  <span>mandos</span>
  <span> who had been jetting around. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the sound of his response, he was barely an adult. “It needs a manual reset.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Wren huffed. “Reset is locked down. It needs a hardcode.” He yanked his arm from </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> grip and blasted off to another group where he stopped by countering his acceleration with a flip into a perfectly regulated jet thrust. The group was comprised of </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span>, her second Reeves, and another couple Wrens that Mara had noted were always hanging around her.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I take it there’s no slicers on board.” Mara said.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> considered the central column of the main computer, looking at it as if he could come up with an answer for it. “Not that I saw on the log. Some of the Wrens were trained in the imperial academy, but not for naval assignments.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara followed his line of sight to the very obvious control panel that held the main system switch behind a mechanical entry pad. The column was at a forty-five to them at the moment. She considered if her backdoor code might help, but she had never tested it on a hard key. At best it worked, and at worse she set off another fail-safe.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, no one else seemed to be doing anything. And maybe the Force would give her a little luck.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She grabbed </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> arm, “Give me a push.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gave an obvious look to </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> who had started to turn their way. “Shouldn’t we ask?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you’re going to do something then do it already.” </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> responded loud enough to answer him. “Everyone, evacuate the room and get towards the pods just in case.” She locked her own helmet into position, covering a grimace of someone who had run out of other options. More than half of the onlookers just sealed up their exo-kits instead of leaving. An attentive audience.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a very quiet, “Alright,” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> manhandled Mara in a gentle toss that got her in line with the column. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She caught at the ladder, her feet swinging out with the motion. The panel itself was marked in High Galactic what authorizations were needed to even key in the pass, but there wasn’t an imperial captain onboard so that didn’t do them any good. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Let’s get this over with.’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>On the twelve-key pad, she pressed in the Emperor’s </span>
  <span>eighteen-character</span>
  <span> backdoor and submitted it via the glowing green button to the pad’s right. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It blinked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blinked again.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hissed. Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy, Force or not. Not every computer would have the Emperor’s hardcoded pass, especially not independent sub-systems. Though if it were to be truly easy, the manufacturing code would work and she would lose her mind at the absurdity.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The submit button turned green again.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She typed the </span>
  <span>four-character</span>
  <span> manufacturing default.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It blinked.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blinked again.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The panel popped open.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sithspit, it worked,” she exhaled. Mara looked down at Kryze who waited below. “It worked,” she repeated louder.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amused, </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> nodded. “Well hit the button. </span>
  <span>We’re</span>
  <span> running behind schedule.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still tense, Mara hit the hefty, </span>
  <span>spring-loaded</span>
  <span> red button that restarted the entire ship.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>A small age passed as the whirring of hundreds of machines clicked off and then powered back on. Beeps, trills, and mechanical stutters made a cacophony until it all settled back into a normal drone.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ship shuddered as the stabilizers righted the entire vessel in line with the galactic plane. The column she had held onto was then perfectly vertical from the network of catwalks and semicircle of consoles four meters down. She let go with what she intended to be a slow push to make a feet-first landing. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Except the gravity plates immediately powered back on.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara dropped.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She could still catch herself.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Force--</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, she collapsed into </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> arms.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara caught her breath. “I didn’t need you to catch me.” She didn’t.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He dropped her feet to the walk. “I’m sure there was some magic that could have helped, but this was easier to explain.” He nodded to the onlookers that had righted themselves beforehand or had jetpacks that had caught them.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> motioned the all-clear, her voice echoing through all their helmet comms. “Status clear. I want this ship on track in less than an hour.” The relay cut off and she took the few more steps to them. “Was that your free imperial pass again?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just the manufacturer’s default.” She rattled it off, to the enthusiastic recording of the first kid </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> had pulled aside. “This ship was just old enough for it to be correct, so we were in luck.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luck, huh? Not something else?” </span>
  <span>Kryze</span>
  <span> cocked her head to the side.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mara shrugged. She would be damned if she would say what the woman wanted with any amount of real seriousness. “Sometimes you just get lucky.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> put one hand on top of Mara’s shoulder. “I’ll take that kind of luck more often.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t count on it,” she said, though her helmet hid a faint smile.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They weren’t even out of the systems control room when a sense of turmoil rushed at her through the Force, like dam broken open. Mara stumbled from the brunt of it.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> had caught her by the elbow, “Gravity is back on, you’re going to have to walk on your own now.” It really did sound like a jest. He was jesting. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Great.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something’s wrong with Luke.” And something was wrong with her, though that didn’t matter as much right now. “We should hurry.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if a switch had flipped, </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> was back to business and rushing them to the </span>
  <span>turbolifts</span>
  <span>. It was a considerably faster route back to where they had started, but it was still too much time alone with her thoughts. Reading emotions was a normal Force ability, one she had always been good at. But the last time she had been swept up in another’s feelings it had been during the Emperor’s death on the other side of the galaxy from her. Despite the kind of </span>
  <span>man</span>
  <span> he’d been, the Emperor had been her entire life.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>What did it mean that Luke Skywalker was starting to reach similar levels of connection with her through the Force?</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And why wasn’t he answering her mental </span>
  <span>prodding</span>
  <span> now? The dam was being built back up.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The lab doors opened to the dimly lit rooms where they had left Luke.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>His helmet was off.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> cursed, then pushed her further in to close and lock the doors behind them.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was sitting on the bed, his legs crossed with </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span> in his lap. His head had been bowed when they entered but then, he looked up with reddened eyes, watery with emotion. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mara was already at his side, her hands reaching out despite herself. She stopped just short of touching him and ended gripping at the edge of the bed instead.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> took the other side, but reached further, his hand going to Grogu who was plopped into exhausted sleep on Luke’s thigh. “Is he okay?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took a moment, but when Luke inhaled to answer, he was steady. “I was trying to distract him from worrying about you, and we connected a bit deeper than I initially planned. There was... a lot to unpack, but he’s fine.” He rubbed at his face, hiding a scowl. “The Jedi you mentioned before. What was her name?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span> burbled as he was adjusted into </span>
  <span>Djarin’s</span>
  <span> arms. The Mandalorian absently rocked the imp until it was settled. “Ahsoka Tano. Kryze introduced us.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke looked baffled. “Bo-Katan Kryze?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> huffed. “What’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke only shook his head and refused to elaborate. “Nothing is wrong. You got the power back on and we should be back on the way to </span>
  <span>Mandalore</span>
  <span> soon.” He grasped at Mara’s closest hand where it still gripped the bed. “You did good work. I’m proud of you.” As if she had been particularly apt at a training exercise.</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lightly smacked his hand away. “You have no idea what I did or didn’t do.”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke didn't seem offended, just took his hand back. "I know you saved the day," he said gently. “I never doubted it for a minute. That’s why I knew </span>
  <span>Grogu</span>
  <span> and I would be safe enough to meditate.” </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If this kind of thing happens every time you magicians meditate, maybe you should stop,” </span>
  <span>Djarin</span>
  <span> said. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whatever was weighing down on Luke lifted enough for him to cover his face with a hand and laugh.</span>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Absolution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The absolution of self-assigned sins and the revelations of the Tribe.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you to @Robinade for everything she helped me with for this chapter!<br/>Also a hundred-and-one hearts to the fic she wrote for my personal challenge to her to make a <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29747328">DinLuke, himbo/himbo story. It has turned out to be hilarious and adorable! <em>'if my heart were at peace'</em> Rated <b>E</b></a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The war had already begun. </p><p>The Pryer dropped from hyperspace near Concord Dawn and into the fray against two Victory II class Star Destroyers versus hundreds of smaller fighter ships with a mix of makes, models, and purposes. It should have been enough to decimate the Mandalorian fleet, but there was already a debris field full of TIE fighter detritus and one of the Victorys’ control towers was heavily damaged. </p><p>Kryze had taken Luke’s word for it when he said something bad was going to happen, so every crew member had already been at their stations. The Pryer was then the reinforcements that tipped the battle to their favor. </p><p>Luke pulled the TIE fighter into a compact turn that his X-Wing would never have managed, but he still missed his ship. TIEs felt flimsier, and the High Galactic readouts took him just a hair longer to read than his X-Wing's <em>aurebesh </em>.  </p><p>[“Wind Five, enemy’s riding your tail!”] Djarin’s soft<em> Mando’a </em>contradicted the urgency of his alert. His own TIE swept into view. </p><p><span class="TextRun SCXW32671685 BCX8"> <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32671685 BCX8">[“I’ll set it up.”] The phrase came to him better than he expected with the Force trick that eased understanding languages that Mara had taught him. He was glad to know it still worked in the heat of battle. Luke then nixed his stabilizer sensitivity then yanked the yoke of the TIE so he got the fighter to twist even tighter. He dropped as if in gravity, and left the enemy ship wide open for </span> <span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SpellingErrorHighlight SCXW32671685 BCX8">Djarin’s</span> <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32671685 BCX8"> attack.</span> </span> </p><p>The flash of vaporized metal blanked the readouts for a second. His TIE rumbled violently from the shockwave without its stabilizers. </p><p>This was fine. He was fine and out and on his way to a precise formation with the rest of the Pryer’s TIEs. The cruiser itself was clear for close engagement and followed behind. </p><p>It wasn’t necessary. By the time they had done one run on the nearest Victory II, the last of the enemy TIEs were in retreat and the capital ships were angling away.  </p><p>The Mandalorians pressed the advantage.  </p><p>Harried and down on turbolasers, the ship with the busted control tower lagged behind. A small squad of sharp-angled fighters swept in just as the hyperdrive activation was detected. Recklessly close to the aft drives that they fired at, three of five of the fighters managed to launch missiles right before the ship jumped. </p><p>It was with relief and unease that Luke exhaled the breath he’d been holding. The Victory hadn’t pulled itself apart making the jump.  </p><p>“<em>Dank farrik</em>.” Djarin cursed, and the rest of their small group echoed with their own curses over their comms. </p><p>Luke switched his relay to a closed channel for the Pryer to ping an all clear, which gave him back a set of coordinates. Kryze had made good on her promise. His piloting skills for a chat with the person that had apparently been supplying the Mandalore Reclamation Movement all of the info they needed to fight the Imperials that still held most of the sector and their home world. </p><p>Another channel flip and he established a private communication with Djarin. “It looks like I don’t have far to go after all.” </p><p>“What are you planning on now then?” The rest of their squad had broken off to return to the Pryer, but Djarin remained to hover close enough they could see each other through their viewports. </p><p>It was a tense question. Luke had already made it clear that he was staying at least long enough to get a read on the enemy forces, but it turns out that the informant he needed was just down on the planet they already orbited. “Kryze says someone going by the call sign Fulcrum will have the information I need for the Republic, so that’s my first stop. I’ll have a better idea of what I’ll do after that.” </p><p>Djarin was visibly roughing up the controls of his TIE. “You shouldn’t go alone.” </p><p>Djarin's protectiveness was nothing new in the past couple of days since the incident in the lab. It made Luke a little warm even as it amused him. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you back on the Pryer afterwards and let you know how it went.” </p><p>The sigh was audible. “Get back soon then. If Kryze decides to start up the assault, she isn’t going to wait on you.” </p><p>“Oh, believe me, she told me that already.” He keyed in sub-light drives and reinitialized the stabilizers that worked to stop him from his almost imperceptible yaw. “But don’t leave without me anyway.” </p><p>  </p><hr/><p>  </p><p>Luke’s TIE did another neat little spin—showing off—around Din’s own TIE and made for the planet. These models at least had planetary landing equipment, but it still didn’t ease the tension Din felt in his chest. There were hundreds of Mandalorian manned ships out there, all better gunned and armored than a lone TIE and all it took was someone ignoring the friendly signal for what their eyes would see.  </p><p>Din assessed the fleet Kryze had assembled, impressive in its own right, but made more so that there were actually Mandalorians that manned every vessel. There were clans, families, tribes, and groups all out there that he had never thought he would see. His own tribe ascribed to the view that the Mandalorians had really been wiped out in the Purge. This was clearly in error. </p><p>But still, survival <em>was</em> their strength. </p><p>[“Wind Two, do you read? Incoming communication relay from the Ever-Wrought.”] It was the Pryer’s channel, but the ship name wasn’t familiar. </p><p>Furthermore, who knew he was out here? [“Put it through?”] </p><p>There was a few clicks and beeps as channels encoded and locked in, but the next sound over the comms was immediately recognizable. “So, you’re not dead.” </p><p>“Paz.” The realization blindsided him. This was the man who had challenged him over taking the Imperial contract for Grogu,  and then covered his escape from Nevarro when Din had gone back on that contract. “You’re not dead.” </p><p>“Don’t sound disappointed.” The grumble was good-natured though, a marked improvement from the adversarial tone the man usually had with Din. “Now get over here. You have some explaining to do.” </p><p>“I should say the same.” He said even as the signal tracker downloaded to his computer. “I’m on the way.” </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>[For this passage, all dialogue is in <em> Mando’a </em>] </p><p>In a fit of nervousness, Din checked to make sure all his armor was still as shiny as when he’d polished it earlier. He buffed some duller spots with his cape, but stopped abruptly when the interlock tube finally beeped that everything was pressurized. </p><p>The Ever-Wrought was a Monarch-class Corellian freighter, at least as old as the Razor Crest would have been, but in much better condition than it had any right to be. The hull shined and the gold stripes of paint were unmarred by battle. The inside, once he stepped foot off the ladder, at least showed some wear.  </p><p>Paz was waiting on him, arms crossed over his heavy dark gray chest armor and as intimidating as he could possibly manage. It made Din square his shoulders and pause to assess. The standoff lasted all of a minute before Paz shrugged and extended a forearm. </p><p>Din took it gratefully. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation.  </p><p>Paz used his grip on Din’s forearm to pull him forward with a turn into a headlock. Din almost fought it, but Paz had let him keep his balance and the arm around his shoulders was loose. “Been a while, Din. She’d hoped you would contact her sooner.” It was said gruffly, an admonishment.</p><p>The Armorer. Din cleared his throat, suddenly dry. “I planned to contact once the kid was secured but my ship...” Din looked around the clean and spacious interior of the Ever-Wrought as they walked and was reminded yet again that the Razor Crest was gone for good. “Moff Gideon vaporized it.” </p><p>Paz growled at the imperial title. “Damn Imps. Did you get him back for it?” </p><p>Din shrugged under the weight of Paz’s guiding arm. “He’s locked up in some Republic prison getting interrogated by now.” </p><p>The arm freed him and then slammed against his back. “Should have killed him.” This time Paz went to push at Din to get him to walk ahead. </p><p>Din sidestepped, annoyed. “Just take me to her. I can walk on my own.” </p><p>Paz made a low grumble of a sound that might have been a warning at any other time, but instead he jutted his chin to indicate forward, the bright teal accents of his helmet angled to catch the overhead lights. </p><p>As if being escorted to a trial for all his sins, Din walked past members of the Tribe who had come to spectate. He couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge any of them, no matter how much he was relieved to see them, because his own head was filled with an imaginary dissection of his transgressions given with a soft and level voice from a golden helm. </p><p>The sculpture of a mythosaur skull marked the Armorer’s sanctuary and the doors opened automatically for him. </p><p>“Don’t be long. Lady Kryze is going to give the signal soon.” Paz said.  </p><p>The doors closed behind Din and he was alone. </p><p>The softly lit room mimicked many aspects of the Armorer’s old workshop, though it lacked the high-powered forge strong enough to melt <em> beskar </em>. The tools were still kept neatly in their cabinets along the walls. The anvil sat between her leather-topped work seat and another bare stool meant for the penitent and reverent. </p><p>As soon as he sat on the stool, the single door opposite from the entry opened for the Armorer.  </p><p>He watched with his head slightly bowed. Mandalorians weren’t the kind of religious that other cultures would recognize, but the Armorer had always been a guiding hand for their tribe. It was good to show deference. And he did. </p><p>But also, he was just so, <em>so</em> glad she was alive. </p><p>“Din Djarin. You finally returned.” Her voice was still the smooth cadence that commanded attention. </p><p>The pressure left all at once. His fingers gripped at his knees where he fought to keep calm. “Armorer.” He dipped his head. “A lot has happened.” </p><p>She tsked at him, an uncharacteristic sign of annoyance. “You know my name.”  </p><p>He did, but it felt too irreverent to use such familiarity right then. </p><p>She sat on her work seat and placed her own heavily gloved hands on her knees. “I have heard of some of what happened. Paz Vizsla knows the Lady Bo-Katan Kryze from the Death Watch and her regency of Mandalore. Greef Karga also used some unconventional means to contact us.”  </p><p>She was... amused? Din hadn’t heard the tone in so long he wasn’t sure it was real. </p><p>The Armorer continued. “But I would like to hear of your progress from you. How is the child?” </p><p>What happened after Gideon’s assault on Karga’s town—that had nearly cost Din his life—started off as storytelling. He and the kid escaped Nevarro again, and found themselves on Tattooine. The Armorer nodded along to show interest, and even grabbed a datapad at the description of the krayt dragon, where she then took a stylus to draw out what was obviously another signet. </p><p>The closer he got to where he was now, the more the storytelling faded to be replaced by a string of facts. It hurt to go into more detail. </p><p>It was also where she began to ask questions he didn’t know how best to answer, “What did you think of the Jedi?” </p><p>“She was a lot like you.” And it didn’t occur to him until after he said it that comparing the enemy sorcerer to the Armorer was a bad idea so he scrambled to explain. “She was always calm. Highly skilled. Good with the kid.” Just to be clear. “Honorable. Mindful. Helpful.” He really couldn’t think of her as an enemy at all, even though she ended up refusing to take Grogu. Maybe he was thankful to her for that. </p><p>“As the Jedi are now, scattered and often hunted… It is not dissimilar to our own situation. And we are both survivors,” she mused. The Armorer motioned him to continue. </p><p>The pressure in his chest had started to rebuild. After Corvus was Tython and his overwhelming failure. He confessed everything that happened at the Seeing Stone. </p><p>“I should have done more to stop them. I should have been... smarter. Faster. If I hadn’t left the jetpack, I would have been faster.” </p><p>The Armorer nodded. “You would have. And you won’t make that mistake again.” </p><p>“I won’t.” </p><p>“And after the child was taken?” </p><p>There was a methodical, soft beep that punctuated the silence as Din tried to rationalize what happened on the Imperial mining planet, Morak.  </p><p>The Armorer was always patient, but in this instance she prodded. “Din Djarin, what are you afraid of?” </p><p>He bowed his head further. His helmet was <em>so</em> heavy. “That I don’t belong here.” His teeth grit and jaw tightened as his eyes welled up in emotion he was swiftly losing control of. “I removed my helmet.” </p><p>She made a hum of consideration, but said nothing. </p><p>The reasons for it ground out from his throat like they were being torn one by one. Chain code recognition. A disguise to infiltrate the refinery. The facial scan that couldn’t be bypassed in a hall crowded with armed Imperials.  </p><p>By the end of it he felt numb. </p><p>She sighed. “Din Djarin, Clan Mudhorn, one of our Tribe. Look up.” </p><p>The command jerked his head upwards.  </p><p>“The Way we follow is strict for its reasons, but there is not a reason I can fathom that would demand the sacrifice of a child to remain true. You removed your helmet to save his life. I absolve you of that act,” she told him simply.  </p><p>Din took in a shuddering breath. He wanted desperately to hold on to the hope that she could mean it. “How is that possible?” he asked hoarsely.  </p><p>There was a long silence as she seemed to think about her answer. “You came to the Tribe young, already having learned what it meant to be a Mandalorian. To follow the Creed. But our path was more strict—we told you never to remove your helmet in view of another, and you adapted to our Way.” </p><p>She tipped her head in his direction, giving the impression of staring intently at him. “We are strict because the secrecy of it is our survival. As I have always said.” </p><p>“I don’t think that I understand,” Din admitted. </p><p>The Armorer reached up to the back of her neck and there was the click of seals releasing. </p><p>She removed her helmet.  </p><p>The golden mark of her leadership came away along with the heavy cowl all in one motion, and the Armorer set the helmet on the anvil between them.  </p><p>All the noise that had built up from his thoughts and fears abruptly silenced. He could only stare. The soft beep in the room so out of sync with the rapid beat of his heart. “That's a lot of armor for someone resistant to fire.” A Devaronian. The Armorer was a Devaronian. </p><p>The Armorer smirked viciously, which showed the longer of her sharp incisors. Dark, red-brown skin crinkled at the corners of her eyes with irises like volcanic glass. “A Mandalorian wears armor.” She added threateningly, “Is it not so?” </p><p>“Yes! Of course.” A Mandalorian without armor was no Mandalorian. It had been a stupid thing to say. </p><p>But he was at a loss. He had never seen or heard of a single member of the Tribe removing their helmet. It was blasphemy.  </p><p>Wasn’t it? </p><p>The Armorer removed her gloves to rub at the two large circles of black bone on her forehead, and brushed back the short purple hair that had flattened from helmet wear. “Under the Empire, non and near-humans were not tolerated. Our Tribe was driven to this secrecy long before we were driven underground.” She tapped one bare hand against her helmet, the short, pointed, black nails like claws. “We protect ourselves by being a unified force, but the custom of wearing helmets even among our Tribe is precisely that—a custom. It is not law. I am sorry if that was not made clearer to you.” Her eyebrows scrunched a bit together as her focus went long over Din’s shoulder, the moment of silence stretched until she relaxed back into the present. “Regardless, you lived, and you saved the life of your child. There is no greater act a Mandalorian can take,” she said.  </p><p>Oh, these were tears again. He felt them slide down his cheeks and soak into the edge of his cowl.  </p><p>“You belong here, Din Djarin. You are one of us still.” </p><p>She inclined her head, the movement as heavy as if she still wore her helmet. “Now tell me the rest.” </p><p>He made a valiant effort to try and tell a story instead of a report. Stories were always more interesting anyway and this one had a happy ending. She let him describe his fight with Gideon before she stopped him, her glare made more intense without the hindrance of her helmet. “The Darksaber? Do you still have it?” </p><p>He did. Din reached behind him to pull it from the horizontal pack attached to his belt, normally kept hidden by the bulk of his jetpack or the length of his cape. The flap dislodged with effort due to disuse, but in the end, he placed the angular hilt of the weapon on the anvil next to the Armorer’s helmet. “Kryze thinks I should use it to build some sort of story, so then it’s more impressive when she wins it from me. But...”  </p><p>The Armorer took the weapon and ignited it to reveal the strange black plane of the blade that was fractured at the edges by white light. Methodically, she angled the blade between them to avoid injury, and tapped it against her helmet. </p><p>Just like he had said, the blade wasn’t able to cut through <em> beskar </em>, though this time it left a thin scratch. The Armorer hummed. “The vanity of an alloy weakens the overall benefit, but electrum is strong in its own right. It is good to finally test it.” She pressed the switch again to let the Darksaber power down and placed it back on the anvil. Then she put her helmet back on before she continued. “This is a powerful symbol you have, Din Djarin. It could help many foundlings.” </p><p>Again, he was lost. Was he supposed to sell it? “But Kryze wants it. I told her to just take it at first, but she won’t.” </p><p>At this, the Armorer leaned forward so she could place one hand on his knee, where his own grip had been slack. “You must not let her take it or the Way will be lost to many. The Darksaber is in good hands with you.” </p><p>He pulled his hand away. “I’m just a bounty hunter.” Though now it had been a while since that was true. </p><p>“You are a Mandalorian, truer to the Way than many and with great skill. I have always had high hopes for you, and you have never failed to meet those hopes.” </p><p>He argued, “You take it. Everyone follows you already. I’ve always been…” Just different, he would have said. Now he realized why. He was a human in a group of Mandalorians who had disparate reasons to follow their tribal code than he had. While he had been welcomed, taught, and aided when necessary, he still had not known what that niggling little difference was.  </p><p>Now he knew. He always had the option to remove his helmet.  </p><p>The rest of the Tribe didn’t have that. As soon as they were known not to be human, it would have put them in danger they might not be able to fight off.  </p><p>“If I lose the Darksaber, then this Tribe may scatter.” The Armorer said, and took her hand away to reach for the datapad. “I will make another mark of valor for this krayt dragon when I have my forge back, but first we must take back the home of Mandalorians from those that sought our destruction. For this, the Lady Bo-Katan Kryze will serve her purpose. Return to her, aid her how you can, but don’t lose the Darksaber.” </p><p>Din got up from the stool and he felt lighter than he had in past week. The Darksaber was back in his hand before he had registered that he had accepted his new task.  </p><p>He paused before he secured it again, the weight of the weapon- for the first time- had some significance. A purpose. Though the thought of him keeping a laser sword was still laughable. “A Jedi found us on the cruiser, after I took the Darksaber.” He mentioned. </p><p>The Armorer looked up from the datapad. “And?” </p><p>“He’s offered to take Grogu and I back to Coruscant.” </p><p>“<em>And?”</em> </p><p>His hands closed into fists. “I’ll send Grogu with him, when the time comes.” Even as his heart wrenched. “He’s a good man. Fights well, good with our language, and good with the kid.” </p><p>She considered him a moment as she looked up to meet his gaze. “He sounds like he would make a fine Mandalorian.” </p><p>He blustered. “Can Jedi even be Mandalorian?” </p><p>She shrugged. “It happened at least once. You can ask Paz Vizsla for the story.” She stood to then walk to one of her many cabinets. “Don’t mention you have the Darksaber though, unless you feel like putting him in his place right then.”  </p><p>The thought of Paz with a ruling symbol of the Mand’alor was about as ridiculous as he expected. It made him softly laugh aloud. As good as he was with his weapon set, Paz’s ego was even more legendary. Truly leading people? Not his domain. </p><p>But was it Din’s either? </p><p>Din rubbed at his neck beneath the cowl and considered the Armorer’s back as she rummaged for what she wanted in the cabinet. “Maj Tassast.” He called. </p><p>She turned enough to look at him, “Yes?” </p><p>“Thank you.” </p><p>Gently, she intoned. “This is the Way.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Contact:<br/>https://twilightarc-gm.tumblr.com/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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